11 February 2008 15:22 Cable thief lucky to escape with his life, warns Central Networks after hacksaw found embedded in live power cable, with lit blowtorch nearby

A thief who used a hacksaw to try to cut through high voltage power lines on the Derbyshire-Nottinghamshire border would have been lucky to escape with severe burns to his hands, electricity distribution company Central Networks warned today.

Engineers called to reports of a power cut near the village of Creswell late on Saturday night (February 9) found a blowtorch still lit and a hacksaw embedded in an 11,000 volt cable. There was evidence of burning in the area and engineers said the thief would probably have suffered very serious burns.

Phil Wilson, Customer Operations Manager with Central Networks, said: "The sheer stupidity of cutting through power cables should be glaringly obvious to everyone.

"At the very least putting the hacksaw through the cable would have created an almighty bang and the line would have burned for quite a few seconds, showering them with molten copper.

"The thief left their tools behind so we can only assume they left in a great hurry or they were injured and were dragged away by an accomplice.

"They could quite easily have lost their life. I can't stress highly enough that it's just not worth it."

A total of 795 customers were cut off because of the reckless thief. Power was restored by engineers an hour and a half later.

The reckless - and potentially deadly - actions of thieves targeting power lines and electricity substations have already led to two fatalities, a number of serious injuries and more than 50,000 customers temporarily losing their electricity supply throughout the region.

Central Networks, which supplies power to 4.9 million customers from Lincolnshire to the Welsh borders, works closely with the charity Crimestoppers, which is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to the successful prosecution and conviction of those responsible.

Individuals who wish to provide information about who is committing these crimes can call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Witnesses to this incident should call Derbyshire Police on 0845 123 33 33.

Ends

Notes to editors:

• Central Networks brings power to 4.9 million customers across central England through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables and via almost 97,000 substations;
• Central Networks covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Boarders to the Lincolnshire Coast.
• Crimestoppers is the only charity dedicated to solving crimes and taking criminals off the streets. Around 17 people are arrested and charged every day as a result of information given to Crimestoppers. One person is charged with murder every five days, as a result of information given to Crimestoppers;
• Crimestoppers also runs the Most Wanted website www.mostwanted-uk.org where people can give information about suspected criminals anonymously online;
• Since Crimestoppers began in 1988, it has had over 850,000 calls. There have been over 75,000 arrests, over £95m property has been recovered and over £130m worth of drugs has been seized.

 

For further information contact:

Andrew Barrow on 024 7618 3677